[mod_python] how to set the REMOTE_USER variable from a PythonAuthenHandler?

Hello.

In a PerlAuthenHandler, I can do the following to set the REMOTE_USER 
variable
(which is necessary since I'm using SSL Client Certs for authentication 
and not Basic Auth, and no, I'm not using FakeBasicAuth)

Perl:
##########################################
package Apache::AuthClientCert;
# file: Apache/AuthClientCert;

use strict;
use Apache::Constants qw(:common);

sub handler{
        my $r = shift;
        return OK unless $r->is_main;

        my $subr = $r->lookup_uri($r->uri);
        my $env = $subr->subprocess_env;

        my $cn = $env->{'SSL_CLIENT_S_DN_CN'};
        my $username = $cn;

        ### KEY LINE BELOW ###
        $r->connection->user( $username );
        ### KEY LINE ABOVE ###

        return OK;
}
1;
__END__
#############################################


If you notice in the perl script, I found that the REMOTE_USER variable is 

not populated, even
if I return OK, unless I explicitly set it using $r->connection->user( 
$username ). 

I go about it this
way because we all have digital certs in my company and it's an easy way 
to handle security.
However, even if I use SSL for the front door, my backend processes ( some 

java ) want to know
who is coming through the door. The only way to pass that information to a 

j2ee server like weblogic 
is via the REMOTE_USER variable.

So, my question is, how do I set this value using mod_python?  The docs 
state that req.user is read only.
I see the example PythonAuthenHandler (spam and eggs) uses 
req.connection.user, but I can't find any 
docs on that (anyone have a url)?

Does anyone know how to set the user so that the REMOTE_USER var is 
correctly populated?

Thanks for your time,
Perry